First: God very often makes you live out your message before you share it.
If you are preaching about forgiveness, you’re going to run into someone you have a hard time forgiving. If you’re preaching about anger, you’ll probably lose control of your own before the week is out. I’m convinced God wants us preaching practice, not theory. So get ready for some real-time, real-life practice.

Second: Just because you aren’t doing well in a particular area of your life doesn’t mean you cannot or should not preach about it.
The easy out is to dodge the life issues that we struggle with. We can take the attitude that says, “I don’t have victory over this, so I’m not qualified to speak about it.” This is exactly what the enemy would have us do. Instead, be honest about your struggles on this subject in your message. Admit to your listeners your weaknesses and your willingness to allow God to grow you through them. This produces humility in you, forces you to deal with your struggles head-on and makes you a first-hand example to your listeners of how a mature Christian deals with his or her own character issues.

Third: No single message is going to make a difference.
I can’t count the times I’ve said to myself, “This is IT! This is THE message that is going to change EVERYTHING in my church.” I just knew I had done just the right amount of preparation, found the perfect nugget of wisdom, or the perfect method to ensure complete commitment from my listeners. To this date it has never happened.

Preaching is much like filling a five-gallon bucket with sand one pinch at a time. It’s going to take a while to get to the top. The impact of any single message relies upon every message that comes before and is reinforced by every message that comes after.

Fourth: I must always be honing my communication skills.
Inadequate communication skills get in God’s way. There are only three things you can do to improve these skills:

a. View it.
Watch others. Find great speakers and listen to how they structure their talks. Pick out the powerful parts. Learn how they phrase things. Listen to pitch and tone and tempo. Don’t be afraid to imitate and copy at will. They were either given these awesome speaking skills from God (which means they don’t own them and don’t have a right to keep them to themselves) or they also learned them from someone else just as you are.

b. Do it.
No one learns how to hit a baseball by watching a game or reading a book. You have to get in the batter’s box an swing at the ball a few times. The same principle applies to communication: The more you communicate the better you get. Take every opportunity to speak that comes across your path.

c. Review it.
Record, listen and critique yourself. Figure out what works and what doesn’t. Never say to yourself, “That was terrible!” Always ask, “How can have done that better?” You will be your own worst critic, so always find two things you did right for everything you can do better. Never back off being honest with yourself.

Fifth: No matter how well I hone my communication skills, there is no power in my skills.
The power is in God and God alone. Delivering a beautifully crafted message with tremendous wisdom and brilliantly creative phrasing results in nothing more than a few pats on the back (mostly from myself) and a wasted half-hour. Approaching the pulpit with humility and a genuine attitude that says, “God, if anything is going to happen here, You have to show up,” creates an environment that changes lives. The most powerful messages I have ever shared are the ones I felt least ready to preach. Those are the ones in which I was most depending upon God to do something in because I knew I was woefully inadequate. Because of this, I have learned to trust not in my own intellect or creativity, but in God’s sovereignty and power.

This was the first time we had done Iron Mountain, so the night before I Googled up some information about the hike. On one of the review sites, I saw the most interesting comment. Someone said something like, “This is a fun hike, but it’s uphill all the way to the top of the mountain.”

Uphill.

Isn’t it the truth that if we want to get tot he top of the mountain, we have to go uphill? The problem is, we all want to be at the top of the mountain without climbing to the top. But here’s reality: There is no such thing as a downhill hike to the mountain top.

I think this is why the Bible is full of scripture like this one:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. – Romans 5:3-4

Every believer wants to live a life that is dominated by faith and hope. Yet there is only one path that produces that fruit, and that path begins with suffering.

You’ve been in the midst of suffering and the only thing you can think about is “why?” Why is this happening to me? Why does it have to be so hard? Why can’t I just get the promotion? Why can’t I get along with my family? Why do I have to work so hard and have so little to show for it? Why, why why why?

God says, “Check this out: I’m making you stronger. The longer you stay in suffering the better you are able to handle it. The better you can handle the suffering the more you’re going to figure out My ways are best. The more you figure out My ways are best, you will choose my My ways–that’s character. The more you choose My ways (character) the more you get to see Me work. The more you get to see Me work, the more hope you will carry with you.”

You see, God is calling you to a mountain top experience. Paul calls it the “upward call of Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13).” But you cannot get there by going downhill.

When JoAnn and I made it to the top of Iron Mountain the next day, we got a treat: one of the best views of San Diego county one can experience. We saw all the way from the Coronado Islands, out to La Jolla, and up to Escondido. Wow.

When we set out after Jesus’ upward call, we get a different view as well. The higher we climb, the better we see from His perspective. When we see what God sees, it is impossible to do anything but hope.

One of the Catholic church buildings in Livno

Bosnia

On Wednesday the team got up early and packed into Kent’s van for the two-hour ride to Livno. This was one part of our trip where none of us really knew what to expect. When I was in Croatia in 2001, Kent and Cheri were back in the States. Therefore, Trent & Nikki (another couple who was working with them in Split) hosted our visit. Since then Trent & Nikki have moved to Livno, Bosnia and started some English language classes there.

The first part of the day we spent talking with Nikki about what’s been happening in Livno for the last seven or so years. They have done a wonderful job fitting into the local culture there and building trust with their neighbors. While we were there it was evident that the reason they are so good at establishing relationships is because they really do care about the people they live with.

After the orientation, we all went to an open-air market and out for lunch. Although there was snow everywhere, it wasn’t too cold. None of us were walking around in our t-shirt, but we weren’t uncomfortably cold at all. Lunch was at a great local restaurant and while there we got to know the local team a little better. It was a late meal (we didn’t start eating until well after 1pm) and we got back to the school around 4pm. Luckily, the local team gave a little time to rest up before classes started.

Much like in Trogir, we got to participate with the students of the school. In the early evening, we met with the beginner’s class. One thing was certain: their English was much better than our Serbo-Croat. The students were eager to learn, and very fun to be with. It was obvious the students were extending to us the trust that Trent & Nikki had built up with them. We really enjoyed ourselves.

Next was English club. The English club is a group of local Bosnians who get together for coffee and conversation in somewhat advanced English. The flavor of this group was much different than the earlier one. Because their English was much better, we were able to talk about more substantial subjects. The group JoAnn and I were with talked extensively about the Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian war. Earlier in the day, Nikki had told us a story about how she said to one of her neighbors that Americans just did not have the capacity to understand all the reasons for the wars that took place in this area in the 90′s. Her neighbor told Nikki that her lack of understanding was evidence of her sanity. The people in the conversation group also could not understand why so many will kill for what seemed like petty reasons.

The wars did so much damage in Bosnia it may take another thirty years for the country to get over it. The damage is so much deeper than just to buildings and political systems. It goes right down into the souls of these people. But because of the depth of our conversation, we were able to talk about the need for all Bosnians, Croatians, and Serbians to both give and receive forgiveness. It was awesome to have a real-world conversation turn into something we could all sink our teeth into. In a situation like the one in Livno, a short-term team cannot get to deep–to do so may risk what the local team is trying to do. But we do get opportunities to turn the ground over a bit and get it prepared for more significant work.

After a light dinner at Trent & Nikki’s house, we said our goodbyes and piled up into the van to go back to Split. I’d like to tell you more about the trip back, but I was dead asleep for most of the way. Every day one spends on a trip like this is intense, and sleep is SO scarce you get it when you can. We were all completely worn out–but in a good way.

After lunch, JoAnn, Jenna, and Jill all spent some quality time together while Marcus and I went to our rooms and quietly meditated with our eyes closed. (No, we weren’t sleeping–really!) Living in a foreign country where you do not know the language fully can be very taxing–even if your husband and his family are nationals. So, Jenna & Jo really wanted to love on Jill and they all enjoyed their time together.

There were two English classes today, and all four of us participated in both. What is incredible about these classes is that many of the students feel a little intimidated because their English is not as good as ours. We all kind of laugh, because our Croatian is no where near the level of their English. They all learn functional English in school, so if they had to they would easily survive on their own in the U.S. if they had to. The cool thing about that is it give us the opportunity to be great encouragers. That’s one of the places where we get to build relationships–which is why we’re here.

One thing is for sure, being in a country where you cannot speak the language really stretches you. Things that we normally can do without thinking become major tasks. For instance, JoAnn wanted to mail a few things off yesterday. So I went to the post office to get stamps. I had Hrvoje with me, but I thought, “No problem. I can do this.” Well, not so much. In the U.S. we can buy stamps of different values. But in Croatia, we had to buy two stamps and two labels for each piece of mail. The conversation that Hrvoje had with the lady at the post office took around 15 minutes. There is no way I could have done that without help.

This is one reason why I feel it is so important for everyone to go overseas at least once. It is only in those times when situations are truly out of control that you learn where your trust belongs. You and I can easily fall into self reliance by playing it safe. None of us were designed to live in the safe zone, and if we never venture out into situations where we are tested we will never figure out what we are capable of.

Tomorrow we drive out to Bosnia to visit some more friends I made in 2001, Trent and Nikki. They’re currently running an English school in Livno and they also have a FULL day planned for us. We do not plan to get back until after 10pm. I plan to update then, but if I don’t it will because we are just plain worn out.

Dovecenja!

We started the day with an orientation of what Kent, Cheri, Hrvoje and Jill are doing here in Croatia. Their main purpose is to begin to build real, significant relationships with the national Croatians. Along those lines, they’ve created an NGO to teach English to local Croatians. Croatia is currently in negotiations to join the EU and expect to become a member by 2011. The EU requires (strongly suggests, actually) that all their member states greatly encourage all their citizens to become fluent in at least three languages. That situation opens up a great market for people who are looking to become conversational in English.

Another thing we found out is that one of the greatest values of a short-term support team such as ours is that our mere presence is a great encouragement to the long-term team that is already here. It isn’t easy living in a culture, place, and language that is completely removed from the one you grew up in. It takes a while to build up significant, positive relationships and sometimes it is just nice to be loved on by people.

After lunch, the team split up and went different ways. Marcus went with Kent to play football (the European kind). Marcus and Kent ended up on opposing teams. Marcus usually plays defense, but for this outing he went forward and kicked a shot-on-goal that hit the top cross bar and shot straight down to the ground directly behind Kent who was playing goalie. Kent assures us it didn’t go in. Marcus kinda smiles and says he’ll be the better man and not press the point.

The ladies, Jenna and JoAnn, spent the afternoon at the English language school with Cheri. They started out talking in a group and then Cheri had them pair up and play a cliche-matching game. They each had a list of cliches in each language and they had to figure out which Croatian cliche matched up with which English cliche. It was a bit challenging because the cliches weren’t literal translations but meaning for meaning translations. The ladies had such a good time that even though the classes ended at 6pm, they didn’t stop talking until almost 8pm.

Knowing that I have no natural (or unnatural, for that matter) talent for football, and that I am definitely not female, I opted to attend a men’s study with Hrvoje. I met some great men there who are really having their lives change in a positive way. I was impressed by one person in particular who was really applying what we studied to his current life situation.

By the time we all got back together it was already 8pm. We all went out for a short grocery shopping trip and walked around Trogir a bit before heading back to the apartment for dinner. We’re all winding down and journaling now–it’s the quietest it has been all day.

Trogir from our balcony

Funny aside: When we got off the airplane in Split it was raining. The airport doesn’t have terminals that hook right up to the planes so we walked down covered stairs and loaded up into buses–which drove a whole (wait for it…): 20 yards to the terminal. Our bus actually drove completely around the airplane to make it worth our while.

Kent and crew brought us back to their apartment in Trogir where we unpacked and settled in. They have actually rented a second apartment for mission teams like ours. Our team is on the floor directly above Kent & Cheri.

After getting settled in, we went down to Kent & Cheri’s for dinner. Concerned about jet-lag, I think their main goal for us today was to make sure we didn’t fall asleep until after dark. Our team was up for that and we had a great time eating and being together. After dinner we looked over the schedule of plans for the week and then went to bed.

This morning, we’re starting off with an orientation and devotional and finishing the day with English classes. Stay tuned.

Well, because our first flight was so late arriving in San Fran, we watched our connecting flight to Frankfurt take off while we were landing. Even though there was another flight twenty minutes after we arrived and we made it to the gate in time, United & Lufthansa couldn’t get their heads together in time to get us on.

That forced us to improvise and change our flights to go through London. After working on that for an hour or so, we were put on standby for the London flight. When the time to board came, we were overjoyed that we all got a seat. We were home-free…or so we thought!

It turned out the plane that was working just fine when it landed now couldn’t turn the overhead cabin lights on and off. Unfortunately that’s enough to keep the plane from taking off. They worked on it for two-and-a-half hours before taking us off so we could board another plane. Then, twenty minutes after getting off the plane, United told us the problem had been fixed and they were going to re-board us onto the original plane. Alas, that was a tease as after another twenty minutes they informed us we would be boarding a different plane. There was wide-spread laughter after that announcement.

We weren’t too worried at this point because our connecting flight in London was scheduled almost five hours after we were supposed to land. We thought the buffer was enough. We were wrong.

After finally boarding the new aircraft, we sat at the gate for twenty minutes only to be informed that our crew could not continue with us because the duration of the flight would force them to work more than 14 hours. That meant we would be staying in San Fran for another hour or so (it turned out to be an hour and a half) while United put together a replacement crew.

Now time was becoming a concern, but we still all thought we’d be alright and make it into Croatia by 10pm Saturday night. Once the crew got on, closed the doors and we left the terminal a few passengers began to applaud. Some of us held back our applause, however, until we actually got off the ground. Appropriately so, it turned out. Before even lining up to take off, the pilot came on the intercom to inform us that our new aircraft had a defective valve and we were going back to the gate for the ground crew to repair it.

Needless to say, JoAnn, Marcus, Jenna, and I were past frustrated. At this point, punch-drunk would be an accurate description of how we felt.

United kept us on the plane for another hour-and-a-half or so before finally giving up. The booked us on flights for the next day, and gave us hotel vouchers. Of course that process took a heck of a lot longer to happen than it did to type it. It was 3:30am by the time we finally hit the sheets at the Airport Hyatt hotel.

So here we are, twenty-four hours later, still in the U.S. God is doing something in all this, but we aren’t sure what it is yet. One thing we know: We don’t have to have all the facts before we trust God to do what God does. It’s a new morning, we start fresh, and God will get the victory!

(The Magi) asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” - Matthew 2:2

Other than God Himself, the Magi are the most mysterious characters of the Christmas story. We don’t know exactly from where they came, who they were or what they entirely believed.

What we do know is they came a long way. They were not Jewish but they sought out a Jewish king. They endured untold dangers and difficulties so they would know the wonder of worshipping someone and something greater than themselves.

That leaves us with a question: what stops us from worshipping God fully and completely? We live in a culture of convenience. If it isn’t easy, we don’t do it. We even get to the point where we start to believe we deserve to have things the easy way.

But worship isn’t always convenient. There are things that get in the way. Schedules, attitudes, and circumstances all work together to put obstacles in between God and us. When we encounter those obstacles we have to make a choice. Are we going to surrender to the obstacles and give up or are we going to surrender to the living God?

It was worth it to the Magi to push through the difficulties to find the only one worthy of worship. Are you willing to push through what ever is in your way?

Today’s Prayer
Jesus, You and only You are worthy of my worship and devotion. Increase my dedication and help me push through anything and everything that keeps me from You. Amen.

Coming up to them at that very moment, she (Anna) gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. - Luke 2:38

Redemption.

That’s an interesting word. It means to buy back; To pay for; To release for a price.

In Biblical times when someone was in debt beyond what they could repay, they would offer themselves as payement for the debt. In essence they sold themselves into slavery.

The enslaved always had the right to buy themselves out of slavery and into freedom. The only requirement was they had to come up with the full price. Furthermore, anyone else could buy them out. It didn’t matter who paid the price. Once paid, the slave was free.

With our sin, you and I have sold ourselves into slavery. Every sin, every evil thought and desire creates a debt to God that we cannot repay. As long as the debt remains outstanding, we remain enslaved.

Anna praised God when she saw the baby Jesus in the temple because she knew He was to be more than a great prophet or king. She knew He was going to be the Price. Because of Jesus, we are redeemed. Your price has been paid.

Today’s Prayer
Jesus, thank You that Christmas means I no longer owe the debt that my sin has created. May I forever live in the knowledge and security that You are the complete payment. Amen.

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. - Luke 2:28-29

Have you ever put expectations on God? As Simeon was waiting for the Christ to appear, there must have been many instances when he thought it was the “perfect” time.

After observing so many missed opportunities, Simeon could have developed an attitude of disappointment, but he did not. Instead, he maintained a constant attitude of expectation. How did he do that?

Simeon stood in the temple, holding a helpless baby in his arms. It was a baby just like the ones we see today. A baby just as you were at one time: helpless, weak, and needy. Simeon looked at that baby and uttered words that made no sense at all, “Sovereign Lord.”

Sovereign means whatever He wants to do He can—ultimate power. Lord means whatever He says is right—ultimate authority. These are not the terms we use to describe a baby. What Simeon saw (a baby) did not line up with what was real (the baby was the creator and Lord of all).

Simeon never placed his faith in what he saw from God. If he had he would have concluded God had given up on humanity. Instead, Simeon’s faith was in who God was—regardless of appearances. Simeon could wait because he knew God was Sovereign and Lord. He had all power and all authority.

Today’s Prayer
Jesus, I want to hold onto You as tightly as Simeon. Help me embrace not what I see but who You are. Amen.